Fairy Twins
by w nymph
Summary: One Shot, AU - 'We've acquired another Natsu.'


So, I was character analyzing Rogue for roleplaying purposes and kind of concluded that if Tenrou wouldn't have ended like it did, Rogue (and maybe Sting too) probably would have ended up at Fairy Tail. Somehow that idea snowballed into this one-shot. /sob

Enjoy?

**Category:** Fairy Tail  
**Characters:** Sting, Rogue, Natsu, Lucy (mentions of Gajeel and Levy)  
**Genre:** Gen, Friendship  
**Rating:** G  
**Warnings:** Beware, cavities to come?  
**Summary:** One Shot - 'We've acquired another Natsu.'  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own Fairy Tail.

**- Fairy Twins -**

'We've acquired another Natsu.' the older members tend to mutter whenever their newest Dragon Slayer climbs on one of the tables, blond hair wild, eyes glowing with bullheaded stubbornness as he points at his target and loudly declares: "Fight me, Natsu-san!"

It's good naturedly though, because really, it's not like they aren't used to endless and very loud challenges, and really it wouldn't be _Fairy Tail_ if there wasn't at least a brawl a day anyways. Besides, somewhere along the line Natsu has learned enough sense to grab the kid and take it outside the city (none of them have any idea how that happened, but Master Makarov is eternally grateful for it - it's not like the bills for property destruction aren't high enough as is) and that's exactly what happens now, even though it's only been a week since their last fight, even though it's clearly going to take some years at least until Sting is able to hold his own properly - never mind until he has a chance of getting the better of Natsu.

Lucy sighs as she watches of the two of them sprint away, Natsu grinning wildly while Sting just scowls at him, two exceeds following closely after ("This time Sting-kun is definitely going to win!" she hears Lector insist, with a scowl that mirrors that of his partner.) and shakes her head as she settles against the bar and wonders: "Why is he challenging him all the time anyways?"

Because as alike as Sting might seem to Natsu, he is utterly different in that he is only ever challenging Natsu and no one else (whereas Natsu really always was just all over the place in that respect) and maybe she is glancing down at the shadow as she asks that question, and at the small black haired figure that forms from them a second later.

There'd be something maybe just a little creepy about the way Rogue - ("His name is Ryos." Gajeel keeps insisting, at which Rogue just scowls and tells everyone that "Rogue" is just fine - there is a _history_ there but neither Rogue (or Ryos?) nor Gajeel are talking about it and not even Levy has been able to get either of them to spill anything.) - comes and goes from the shadows, if not for the fact that she's caught the kid's smile once (small and gentle and only intended for Frosch to see) and they all know by now that for all his quietness, the kid is a kind soul.

"You know why, don't you?" she asks him with a side glance, trying, but maybe failing, to hide her curiosity - but there is very little that stays hidden from the red set of eyes glancing over the edge of the very large scarf that hides half his face - only to get a shrug as an answer.

She sighs again and supposes that she shouldn't be surprised; for all that most in their guild are terribly gossips (Lucy included), Rogue keeps secrets - his own and that of others - quite well, and she knows better than to pry.

"He's going to keep trying." he offers quietly after a moment with dead certainty, and that she has known already, because Dragon Slayers are not known for giving up and the ones of their guild doubly so.

"So are you." she adds then with another sideward glance - she's seen the way he looks at Gajeel, how Gajeel looks back and even though neither of them have declared anything official, the challenge is there somewhere, really only ever meant to be known by the two of them - and Rogue considers her for a moment before nodding, eyes gleaming with the exact same determination as Sting's do and just maybe that is why they get along so well, for all their differences, for all that they should clash just given the elements they wield.

She doesn't get it at all, and maybe it's a Dragon Slayer thing (...though she suspects that it probably is really just a _boys_ thing), but as long as it is in good spirit, it ought to be alright. And it _is_ kind of cute to watch that mix of admiration and hero worship and rivalry and how Natsu takes to all of it, grinning happily and very ready to accept every challenge that Sting throws his way.

It's definitely cute to watch the aftermath of it, like right now, to see Natsu carrying a sleeping Sting in on his back, the poor kid totally exhausted (because otherwise he probably wouldn't let this happen anyways) and for just a second they very much look like brothers (and maybe they are anyways in all ways that truly count).

A moment later Rogue is by their side, scowling maybe just a little as waits for Sting to wake up (it doesn't take long) and though the rest of them doesn't entirely understands what he is frowning about, Sting just nods and grins and then turns to Natsu: "Next time, I'll beat you!"

And Natsu just grins back, because that's the spirit of this guild - to never give up, to keep fighting and struggling and to never forget that they'll always have each other now and forever and maybe the kids haven't quite understood that yet, but they will soon.

They do have the heart of Fairy Tail mages after all.

_- Fin -_


End file.
